Jungle Red Writers

Roll Out Your Red Carpet: a guest blog by "Red Mojo Mama" Kathy Lynn Hall

2012-05-16T03:30:00.000-05:00

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: You may not have guessed it from our blog, but here at JRW we are all about the Red. Some of us have red hair (or used to...) some of us wear red clothes, some of us sport red polish, but we all have a big dose of Red Attitude.

So we were delighted to make the acquaintance of Kathy Lynn Hall, aka Red Mojo Mama. Blogger, Indy author, social media expert, Kathy Lynn knows that some women are born red, some have red thrust upon 'em, but ALL women can achieve Red. She's visiting us today to tell you how to add more Red to your life.

"When in doubt wear red." --Bill Blass

It doesn’t matter where you find it, the color red brings life to the party. Take a basic black and white décor; add a red pillow and a vase of red gladiolas and suddenly you have drama. If you’re the shy and retiring type, it’s obvious you need a little red once in a while to spark up your existence. So, go for it and try one or two of these suggestions to surprise yourself and those who never thought that you’d ever DO red.

Wearing that little black dress again? Add a sparkling red rhinestone brooch – retro, of course – and just see how many compliments you get.
Do you have classic white dinnerware, like I do? No problem. Add scarlet cloth napkins, sprinkle rose petals around the base of a pedestal candle and now you have romance in full bloom.
Is there a pair of hot red heels in your closet that hurt your feet too much to wear on a long date? (If there aren’t, get on it, girlfriend!) Solution: Arrange to meet your husband or date at a restaurant that has a bar. Wear your flip-flops into the ladies room, slip on your passion-red stilettos and slither slowly to the bar before he even gets there. Be sure to perch on a bar stool turned slightly to the side facing the door, so he’ll get a great peek at your fabulous legs and shoes as he meets his lady for a drink first. Make sure he enjoys a little footsie under the table, before you slip back into your flip-flops for the trip home. PS – make sure there’s a beautiful shade of red on your pedicured feet and he’ll make the mental leap from the red heels to your sexy toes in no time flat.
Don’t be afraid to do red big-time if you can handle it. As a professional, shock and awe will accompany you into a board room in a simple red suit. Keep the accessories simple and gold tone and you’ll be unforgettable.
If your life has been basic beige up until now and leaping off the cliff is uncomfortable, take it slow or you may get flustered by your adventures in such a vibrant color. Add red and gold earrings to your collection. Can you pull off a bold cherry lipstick while the rest of you says “I’m understated”? Or maybe a wine-colored purse is just the right touch of radical against a plain background. Experiment.
Red and sparkly go together like wine and cheese. I have a red beaded purse I hang within sight of my bed just to remind me of that fact. Whether it’s jewelry or sequins, red loves shiny things, so marry them whenever you can.
Perk up your stationary. Get rid of those sickly pastels and go in search of splashes of the color of passion. Some of the most interesting designs have a bit of vermillion or cardinal in them.
Add a red bra and matching panties to your lingerie drawer. No one even has to see them for you to feel a little sexier knowing you have them on.
I have a little fire-engine red car with a matching cooler, stadium blanket and sports chair in the back. People remark on it all the time.
Don’t forget the scents associated with red – cherries, apples, pomegranates, Red Door and Red perfumes.
If you weren’t blessed with natural copper tones in your hair, then do what I do – buy it. Becoming a redhead is the ultimate commitment to red and you’ll have the time of your life.

However you manage it, do give yourself a fling with red. See how it fits. If you love it, then embrace it. Red is truly a lot of fun!

You can head over to Red Mojo Mama for more of Kathy Lynn's wit and wisdom. You can also check out her novels, Red Mojo Mama and Red is an Attitude, her books of essays and her social media guides. You can follow her on Twitter as @RedMojoMama, like her on Facebook, and - new to us! - share with her on Pinterest!

My Most Amazing, Incredible, Wonderful Twelve Days: a guest blog by Sara J. Henry

2012-05-15T04:51:00.000-05:00

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Sara J. Henry, like me, is a Mason-Dixonite. She grew up in the south but now makes her home in the Green Mountain State. Her debut, Learning to Swim, initially caught my eye because it's set in New York State's Adirondack mountains. Learning to Swim caught a lot of eyes - it was an Emerging Author pick for retail giant Target, nominated for a Barry Award, and last month, it went on to win the prestigious Mary Higgins Clark award during Edgars Week, and then went on to win the Best First Agatha Award at Malice Domestic. However, Sara's not here to tell us why we should read Learning to Swim (although you really should!) She's here to give us a peek into what it's like to live the mystery writer's dream come true.

My Most Amazing, Incredible, Wonderful Twelve Day

I live on a dirt road in southern Vermont—excitement is when a fox tunnels into my yard and I try to referee a chase between dog and fox as they lap the yard, me alternately trying to grab my 105-pound Newfie mix and direct the fox to a fox-sized opening in the fence.

A long time ago I wrote a novel. Parts were good and parts weren’t, and I put it in a drawer, where it stayed for a very long time. Eventually I pulled it out and revised it, over and over, until it was published. In the 14 months since I did two panels, and went to the few bookstores who asked me. And then my amazing twelve days began.

I head off to appear at the wonderful St. Louis County Library’s annual Suspense Night. (This, because at the previous fall’s Bouchercon, I’d shoved a copy of my novel into the library director’s hands, being abominably bad at talking about my work.) It goes well, and I’m delighted by the attendance of three long-ago Tennessee high school friends, now St. Louis transplants—one of whom arrives dressed as my novel’s main character, complete with fake ponytail.

Home one night, and then off to Booktopia in Manchester, Vermont. (This, because I’d forced my reticent self to meet the folks at Northshire Bookstore some time back, with my writer pal A.S. King’s words ringing in my ears, Sara, you HAVE to go to bookstores and meet people.) This is one of those events where you feel they accidentally invited the wrong person – there are seven other authors here, amazing authors, ones with books dancing around the New York Times bestseller list. I meet the delightful Richard Mason and Madeline Miller (the other debut author) at the opening party, and the next day appear with the wonderfully generous Howard Frank Mosher. The final event at Northshire is open to the public, and every chair is filled. I am scared almost spitless. I’m second to speak, and decide I’ll start with a funny childhood story. And people laugh, and I freeze only once, infinitesimally, and the result is now a podcast over at Books on the Nightstand.

Then to NYC where I appear on a panel with SJ Rozan at the MWA Symposium, and think from the audience’s blank faces that this must be the most boring panel ever, until I learn this is simply what people look like when listening. In a restroom I do a Superman-style fast change, to the shoes and black dress stashed in my daypack, and head into the MWA Agents and Editors party, where I’m up for the Mary Higgins Clark award. I’m happily standing there, with the analytic side of my brain assessing what I should say if I win, and then my name is called. And what I never once considered—the emotional impact of winning—hits me like a tidal wave, an enormous one. I cannot move, I cannot think, I almost cannot breathe. And I cry a little, but only a little, during my talk.

Next I’m at my cousin’s house in Virginia, where I play with my four adorable young cousins and do a book club group, and get up horribly early to drive to Malice Domestic in Bethesda. And there I have a lovely time at my first-ever Malice, until the awards ceremony where I am astoundingly up for a best first novel Agatha, and this time I refuse to let myself think that I could win, refuse to think of what I might say if I do, and sit in a sort of frozen stupor. (Yes, I am wearing the same immune-to-rolling-up black dress.) And then my name is called. So I stumble up there and stumble through a speech and stumble back to my table. And there, with my award teapot sitting in front of me, I dissolve into a puddle of tears, and my wonderful friend Jess Lourey takes charge of me for the rest of the evening.

On the way home I stop at the home of A.S. and Mr. King and daughters, where I’m greeted with lovely child-drawn signs, and spend the day with people I love.

And so end my amazing, incredible, wonderful twelve days.

Now I am back on my dirt road in Vermont, marveling at the turns my life has taken—all because I wrote a novel that I decided to take out of the drawer, and didn’t give up on.

You can find out more about Sara, and read an excerpt of Learning to Swim, at her website. You can also follow her on Twitter as @SaraJHenry and like her on Facebook.

We're Pedaling As Fast As We Can...

2012-05-14T03:30:00.000-05:00

HALLIE EPHRON: So all of us Reds sat up and took notice of yesterday's New York Times front page Headline -- Writers Cramp: In the E-Reader Era, a Book a Year is Slacking.

And there's lovely Lisa Scotolline, standing there in a butterscotch leather jacket, leaning against a block of granite, cool as a cucumber and apparently without a care in the world. She says she's producing two books a year now because "the culture is a great big hungry maw, and you have to feed it."

My reaction? In a word, Oy vey. Followed by a very loud and whiney: "Come on guys, I'm pedaling as fast as I can!"

I am so in awe of writers who can crank out more than one book a year. How do they do it?

LUCY BURDETTE: Yeah, we started this conversation by complimenting Debs on making a good show on the blog this past week--in spite of her big deadline. And then, Hallie points out how the NYT is telling us even the big, big, big authors are writing faster and faster and faster...

RHYS BOWEN: This reads like the story of my life these days! Two books a year and Penguin is releasing a short story/novella a month before the next Lady Georgie title. And St Martin's is suggesting I do another short story before the next Molly.

HALLIE: I've heard authors complain that they put up short stories on Kindle (free, mind you!) only to get a batch of one star reviews from readers complaining that they felt cheated because it wasn't a whole novel. Talk about biting the hand...

RHYS: Happened to me last year. All that whining about 'this isn't a whole book!' It's like going into the bakery and complaining because they are only giving away samples of the doughnut, not the whole thing. But I'm afraid too many Kindle readers are now spoiled by writers giving their works away and think this is normal. However some of us have to eat.

LUCY: I attended a conference yesterday for mostly romance writers. One woman I sat with churns out 4 books a year. And she has 4 kids...She said she works well under deadline: when she was in a bad pinch recently, she went to a motel alone for a weekend and wrote 12,000 words in ONE day. 20,000 for the weekend.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: 12000 in ONE day? Did they make any sense??

HALLIE: I once wrote 12,000 words in a day. The next day I deleted most of them.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I'm trying to write 2000 a day when 1000 to 1200 is a good day for me. Last Monday I think I wrote about 5000. I was so exhausted on Tuesday that I couldn't get off the sofa. I can do a few days like that right at the end of a book, but can't keep it up.

Are these super-achieving writers human?

HALLIE: I'm doing well if I hit 500 a day. Or I thought I was.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Well, everyone around here may have noticed I've been AWOL for the last several weeks. My book deadline was moved up, and for me to write at the speed required to meet it, I have to chuck everything else out the window: trips to the Y, social media, blogging, cooking, cleaning... (okay, I admit those last two aren't a big sacrifice.) I can do that for a month or two, when absolutely necessary, but to produce enough words to fuel two good books a year? I don't think I'd have any other life.

Writers, what's your word count? Could you produce two books a year? Three? And readers, do you really need two books per annum from your favorite writers? Believe me when I say the Reds want to know!

MEALS ON WHEELS FOR THE DEADLINE DESPERATE

2012-05-13T01:30:00.000-05:00

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I'm at that stage of a book where the last thing in the world I want--or need--to do is cook. I've finished the two previous books in London, staying for three to four weeks in a flat by myself, eating my favorite take-aways--Indian from Masala Zone, Italian antipasti from Carluccio's--yummy things from local delis, or even carton soups and prepared meals (what the Brits call ready-meals, and they are generally much better than things you get in the US) from the supermarket. Or sometimes I'd take my notebook and walk up to my favorite Notting Hill pub, The Sun in Splendour, for fish and chips, or a pizza at Pizza Express.

But for this book, I'm home, and must feed not only myself but Dear Hubby, who DOES NOT COOK. If asked, "What can we do for dinner tonight, honey?" he will answer, "Wendy's or Taco Bell?"

One cannot live on Wendy's or Taco Bell. Or at least I can't, although he seems to manage quite well when I'm away. So I thought I would solicit Recipes for Desperate Writers from my fellow REDS.

Help!

(Oh, and Happy Mother's Day to all you mums out there!!! I hope someone has fixed you dinner!)

ROSEMARY HARRIS: I know Hallie and Lucy will come up with some yummy recipes so I'm going to take the easier path - go to Trader Joe's! Their packaged balsamic chicken with rosemary is the best prepared food I've ever eaten. They also have very good frozen potstickers. Three minutes, a little soy sauce, nuke some frozen edamame and you're good to go.

LUCY BURDETTE: Wendy's or Taco Bell? Oh save us from those horrible options, Debs! Here's a go-to meal that couldn't be easier: take one chicken, clean innards out of the cavity, plop in a roasting pan. Drizzle a little olive oil on top, spread it around, add salt and pepper and a little rosemary if you have it. (You can get fancy with seasonings, but we're focusing on EASY, right?) Deliver to oven and roast at 350 for about an hour and a half. You can stick two sweet potatoes in for about the same time--just scrub, prick with a knife in a few places, and set them on a piece of tin foil. Add a salad or a few spears of asparagus (we like them best roasted about ten minutes) and voila, you're done. And you have half a chicken left over to make soup or sandwiches...

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Pasta Primavera! Get vegetables. Say--a zucchini and a yellow squash and a red pepper. Chop, toss with a bit of olive oil and basil, throw into the oven and roast for 10 mins. Or broil. Doesn't matter. Meanwhile, make pasta, drain. Here's the secret: put 3 tablespoons or so of olive oil in a bowl, add chopped garlic (you can use the kind in a jar) nuke in the microwave for 30 seconds, making infused olive oil. Dump the veggies into the pasta, dump the oil on top, mix, add Parmesan cheese and a few twists of pepper. Easy. Yum. And you can use any kind of vegetables!

JAN BROGAN: This is even easier than Hank's, so easy that Spike, my 22-year old son, has made it a staple in his tiny Brooklyn apartment which has almost no kitchen utensils. Buy and keep those 12-ounce boxes of frozen CHOPPED spinach in your freezer. Also make sure you have ground Parmesan in your refrigerator. Make a box of pasta, I like bow ties or the corkscrews, but any will do. While it's cooking, take the wrapping off the box of spinach, put the box on a plate and microwave it for six minutes. Drain the pasta, press the water out of box of spinach. Combine in the pot you cooked the pasta in. (or course, you toss out the spinach box) Add a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter. A cup of Parmesan and VIOLA, dinner.

Or if you want to be virtuous, skip the butter and just add olive oil. If you want to be fancy, you can add a small can of drained diced tomatoes, Italian spices or Oregano. Pepper. Herbs de Provence. Whatever.

RHYS BOWEN: I agree with so much of this. Roast chicken is a staple in our house--rubbed with Yoshida sauce, sitting on a bed of veggies. And with the leftovers we make chicken curry and then a thick veggie soup. For a really simple dinner I also love a big baked potato with cheese and broccoli on top.
And also a fan of Trader Joe's--Mandarin chicken, those same frozen potstickers,and a wonderful thin pizza called Tarte D'Alsace.

HALLIE EPHRON: Mmmm. Roast chicken. An hour and a half if it's small. If it's a "roasting size" (5-6 pounds), it'll need more like 2 hours. And I like to turn the heat way up to 450 when it first goes in and leave the temperature there for about 10 minutes to get the skin starting to crisp. Then turn it down to 350 for the rest of the cooking.

How about steak, tomato salad, and steamed asparagus? For the steak, quality counts. I pat fresh ground pepper into both sides of the raw meat a few minutes before cooking.

Pan seared steak: Heat a heavy pan (roomy enough for the steak) until water skips when you splash a few drops on it. Sprinkle the bottom of the pan with coarse salt. Smack the steak down in the hot salted pan and let it crust on the under side (about a minute and a half); turn it, and let it cook hot on the other side about 1 minute more. Turn the heat WAY down and cover the pan. Cook until the meat is as rare as you like it. Remove the steak. Swirl some red wine and butter in the pan and dump it and some chopped parsley and chives on the steak. What could be more delicious?

I leave the asparagus and tomatoes to your imagination. As with everything in the kitchen, the quality of the ingredients is what counts.

DEBS: You all are fab! Unfortunately, we don't have Trader Joe's here. But we do have CostCo, and I buy easy things like organic spinach and cheese ravioli, frozen shrimp, and jars and jars of CostCo brand marinara sauce, which is all lovely ingredients and is really cheap!

At least once a week we have whole wheat spaghetti with the marinara sauce, fresh grated Romano (CostCo again) and a salad.

I do love roast chicken in all the permutations, and you've inspired me to make my favorite this week: plop (Lucy's word:-)) a whole chicken in Le Creuset casserole, rub all over with good olive oil and chopped fresh rosemary, squeeze over juice of a lemon and add fresh ground salt and pepper; stuff cavity with another cut up lemon and rosemary sprigs. Cook. Serve with brown rice and steamed asparagus (yes, that's a big one in our house, too) and I eat mine with preserved lemon.

And thank goodness it's grilling season. We have a good gas grill, which makes for really easy dinners. We have a local organic meat market (so local that the owners actually own the ranch with the cows) so we've had burgers more often lately. There is absolutely no comparison between their meat and what you buy in the supermarket. I think now, however, I'm going to have to splurge and try Hallie's pan-seared steak....

Or I may just pack up and move in with Hallie until the book is finished...

PS: Any suggestions from our lovely readers would be appreciated, too! And now it's back to work on the book.

PSS: The second cartoon is by one of my favorite writers, Russell T. Davies, creator of Dr. Who. Now that's inspiring.

LIZ ZELVIN--AN OUTRAGEOUS OLDER WOMAN

2012-05-12T01:30:00.000-05:00

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Today, the multi-talented Elizabeth Zelvin--writer, singer, song writer, psychotherapist--gives us a much-needed (at least on my part) Saturday boost! Liz's latest mystery is DEATH WILL EXTEND YOUR VACATION. Her short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and have been nominated for three Agathas and a Derringer award. As Liz Zelvin, she recently released OUTRAGEOUS OLDER WOMAN, an album of original songs.

Oh, and a bit of business before we turn it over to Liz. Our winners of advance reader's copies of Charles Todd's An Unmarked Grave are Karen Russell, Ethan, and Diane Hale! Could you three send your mailing addresses to me at deb at deborahcrombie dot com? I'll forward them to the Todds' wonderful publicist at William Morrow.

And now--

LIZ ZELVIN: In a recent discussion of the term “senior citizen” on the Sisters in Crime e-list, everybody had a different idea of how old you have to be to merit that mildly demeaning label. My best answer is the last verse of my song “Creeping Age,” which appears in my new album of original songs, OUTRAGEOUS OLDER WOMAN. (The first version, written twenty years ago, was titled “Middle Age”.)

I never will be elderly, I never will be old

Though my roots have turned to silver

and my molars all to gold

The woman that I am, my friends, is what I’ll always be

Getting old? So what! ’cause too damn old

is ten years more than me.

As we’ve all heard, sixty is the new thirty. Seventy is the new forty. To my tennis-playing Aunt Hilda, since her birthday last month, 100 is the new seventy. And although I’m collecting Social Security and a card-carrying Medicare recipient, call me senior at your own risk. When I dive into that phone booth (let’s pretend I can still find a phone booth in 2012) and whip off my trifocals and frilly blouse, I reveal a T-shirt that says “Outrageous Older Woman.”

I actually have the T-shirt. Sometimes I put it on to go for my three-mile run in Central Park, only one long block from my apartment. By the time I reach the park, I’ve usually forgotten what I’m wearing. (Sad to say, Outrageous Older Women suffer from declining memory, just like senior citizens.) It only comes back to me when I notice that a helluva lot of women of a certain age are giving me a big smile as they pass by.

So what’s the matter with “senior citizen”? The term was coined as a euphemism for such epithets as “elderly,” “little old lady” or “little old man,” and the floridly disrespectful “old bag” (female) and “geezer” (male). But sometimes a painstaking attempt to be polite reeks of insincerity, and the recipient takes it for the false compliment it is. My Aunt Marta was in her mid-sixties, younger than I am now, when she ran into a high school classmate she hadn’t seen in decades. When the woman told her she was “looking very spry,” she was so furious that steam came out of her ears when she told me about it.

The up side of being a senior is the half-price bus and subway fare and the discount at the movies. Oh, and the accumulated wisdom of long experience. The down side is everything else, including the fact that we shrink. There’s nothing figurative about that “little.” I’ve lost an inch and a half already and will probably be looking up instead of down at my grandchildren in another ten years.

So what have I done with my golden years? So far, I’ve published three mystery novels featuring recovering alcoholic Bruce Kohler and his friends, world-class codependent Barbara and computer genius Jimmy. DEATH WILL EXTEND YOUR VACATION is just out. In this one, Bruce and his friends take shares in a lethal clean and sober group house in the Hamptons. The first one, DEATH WILL GET YOU SOBER, came out on my sixty-fourth birthday. And in the hiatus between book two and book three (I don’t need to say anything about the current state of the publishing industry, do I?), I wrote a dozen short stories (three nominated for the Agatha for Best Short Story and another for the Derringer) and recorded OUTRAGEOUS OLDER WOMAN.

It’s not so much the mystery plots that I couldn’t have written as effectively when I was younger. But that cumulative life experience I mentioned enables me to create complex characters, breathe life into them with distinctive voices and authentic relationships, and explore such themes as addiction and recovery and the nature of friendship. In the album, I sing about love and family, abuse and healing, and yes, aging. I do my best to make readers and listeners laugh and cry. In the books, Bruce hits bottom, displays a smart mouth and a lot of New York attitude, and eventually takes an honest look at himself. The songs range from the embellished retelling of a Jewish shaggy dog story to my take on 911, written in New York a day or two after the tragedy.

It seems to me that “senior citizen” is a patronizing term. It implies that once you reach a certain age, your effectiveness diminishes and people have to make allowances for you.

Being an Outrageous Older Woman is all about empowerment: no allowances, no excuses, and a helluva lot of fun.

DEBS: I say "hooray!" How about you, REDS and readers?

CHARLES TODD--THE NEW BESS CRAWFORD MYSTERY

2012-05-11T01:30:00.000-05:00

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Two of my very favorite writers are the mother/son writing team of Charles and Caroline Todd, who write as CHARLES TODD. Their books featuring shell-shocked WW1 veteran and Scotland Yard policeman Ian Rutledge have been enormously popular and have received every critical accolade.

But a few years ago, deciding that they weren't content to write one book a year, the Todds began a second series featuring WW1 battlefield nurse Bess Crawford, and the latest Bess book, An Unmarked Grave, will be out in just a few weeks.

As the Todds and I share a publisher (William Morrow,) I've been fortunate to have done a number of book events with them these past few months, and I've been fascinated not only by the books themselves, but by listening to Caroline and Charles talk about how they work and what inspires them.

Here they share some thoughts with us at Jungle Red. (And I have to say that I just love this photo--Charles looking moodily and mysteriously into the camera, and Caroline looking so like Caroline!)

DEBS: The Rutledge books, which are set just after the Great War and which deal with the ongoing consequences of Detective Inspector Ian Rutledge's experiences in the war, particularly his shell shock, have been very successful. So what inspired you to write about Bess, a nurse and amateur sleuth, and to go back to the war itself?

CAROLINE: We’d talked about Bess for ages, but wanted to wait until we were sure that Rutledge was well established before tying up time and energy for another series. In her case, we had two goals, to show how women coped with the war, and also to give people a chance to understand why Rutledge had come home damaged, to see what he’d faced in the trenches. What surprised us about Bess is that she practically wrote herself. She's such an interesting person, and is such fun to work with. This must have come across to the reader because Bess became popular almost overnight. What’s more, we were looking forward to her second adventure before the first one even hit the bookshelves.

CHARLES: English women have always stepped up when they were needed, even running the castles during the crusades. They've also traveled widely and independently, which gave us a great background for Bess. Her father was a career army officer, and so she knows about weapons. Her childhood was spent at Army cantonments around the world, and so she has a different upbringing from that of the average Victorian woman. All this gives her an outlook on life shaped by a sense of duty and a sense of service. It's not surprising that when war broke out she wanted to serve as a nurse, just as her father's son--if he'd had one--would have served on the battlefield. Yes, it was going back to the war, but it was going forward to peace as well.

DEBS: Can you tell us a bit about the story in An Unmarked Grave?

CAROLINE and CHARLES: Bess is in France, dealing with the wounded and now the influx of patients with the Spanish flu. That’s what they called the terrible Influenza pandemic that killed so many people all over the world, including members of our own families. Among the dead awaiting burial is a body that shouldn't be there--he wasn't a victim of war wounds or of the flu. He was murdered. But before Bess can report his death, she herself succumbs to the flu and nearly dies. By the time she is fully recovered, the discovery of the body seems to be a distant troubling dream. But as she tries to convince herself of that, she finds that the only other witness to the discovery has hanged himself--or has he? As Bess delves deeper into memory and tries to pin down facts, she begins to realize that the dead man in the shed was not the first to die by an unknown hand, nor the last. And it’s likely that she’ll be next, if she doesn’t watch her back. That danger could well touch all those she loves most dearly, and now Bess must race a killer to his final target.

DEBS: One of the many things I love about the Bess books is their sense of immediacy. As a reader, I feel Bess's experiences so vividly. Some of this is due to the first-person narrative style, but I wondered about your research. Have you visited the sites of the Allied lines in France, where, as a nurse, Bess would have been stationed?

CAROLINE: We’ve made an effort to visit French museums and French battlefields, and we've got a copy of a Physician's Reference for 1908, which helps with the medical details. So the research is there. Nurses write that they respond to her sense of dedication. What we discovered was that first person really makes Bess come alive for the reader. Rutledge is definitely third person as the professional detective, but for Bess, we needed to be a part of what she was seeing and feeling and doing. Amazing, really, because characters seem to know what's best for them. From Chapter 1 in first person, she literally leapt off the page. Writers like to talk about Voice, too, and Bess found her own. She’s fresh and different and intensely involved in her life, and whether you’re twenty of sixty, you have to respond to that.

CHARLES: Much of the research we've done for the Rutledge series has given us a good feeling for the period in which Bess works. And so one series builds on the other. We'd had strong women in the Rutledge books, so we weren't surprised to find we could write a strong woman on her own. And she's as riveting to write about as she is to read. Still, a story has to come down to setting and plot, and we have a drawer full for Bess to draw on.

DEBS: I recently recommended the Bess books on 20SomethingReads, a website librarians use to find suggestions for younger readers. Bess is strong, independent, adventurous, brave--and sometimes stubborn, all traits that I'd hope contemporary young women and men would identify with. Were you thinking about the appeal to a younger audience when you conceived the series?

CAROLINE: Bess offers so much to the younger reader, male and female, because she's young too and she's trying to make a go of her choices in life. We’d seen the success of Harry Potter, who had such a broad appeal to readers, and we realized that the real wizardry here wasn’t just happening in the story, it was the way the story was told, it reached out and grabbed you and said, here’s great adventure, come and see for yourself. We try to do the same with our books, and Bess is a woman any woman can relate to. What’s more, male readers love her. I don’t quite know how we managed that, but we’re enjoying it.

CHARLES: I was told recently by a woman in her twenties, “I bought your latest for my Mom, because she’s a nurse and she loves the series. The next thing I knew, I was still reading at midnight, and couldn’t put A BITTER TRUTH down. Now I can’t wait for the next one.” Remember, Rutledge isn’t quite thirty, he’s an attractive, haunted man who has a job to do and must face it every day, just like the rest of us, even if he’s an Inspector at Scotland Yard. Bess is in her early twenties, caught up in the middle of a war and trying to do her bit. You care about these characters because they seem so real, and you want to know what’s happening next. That’s because the stories are fresh, and the plots involve you. That’s what reading is all about.

DEBS: An Unmarked Grave takes place in the spring of 1918. We know (although Bess does not) that the war will be ending soon. Can you tell us a little bit about what's in store for Bess? I feel quite sure she won't be sitting at home knitting And, the question that fans of both series always have to ask--do you envision Bess and Rutledge meeting after the war? While I don't think they would be romantically suited (and Bess already has a surfeit of interesting men in her life!) it would be interesting if their paths crossed on a case...

CAROLINE: When the war ends--as it must, Bess has to learn to live with peace. She’ll be invited to an Irish wedding, in spite of the Troubles, and she’ll find herself in a very different environment where no one dares to trust his neighbor or his friend. And Melinda Crawford wants to go back to India, where she had lived for many years. At her age, such a long journey is very arduous, and so she invites Bess to accompany her. And Colonel Crawford sends Simon with them to protect both of them. We'll learn more about Simon in this one, and about Bess's childhood. But wherever Bess is, can murder be far behind? This is just a sampling of what’s ahead. Will Rutledge and Bess ever meet? We don't know. Would she pick up on his shell shock? Interesting idea. How would he feel about that? Hmmm.

CHARLES: Bess is a battlefield nurse. This is the crucible where she learned to be an independent and engaging young woman, no longer in the shadow of her famous father. And that's where the end of the war will find her, learning to live with peace, learning to move on. It won't be easy, and as anyone who has survived a war will tell you, it will leave its mark. And so Bess must make her way into this Brave New World that isn't anything like the dreams people fought to save. That's why we will take her to Ireland, and then back to her roots in India. Bess never goes looking for trouble. It finds her. So life will never be dull for her—or her readers. Whoever they are.

DEBS: Thank you both! I've cheated a bit, having been lucky enough to read the galley of An Unmarked Grave, so now I have to join the nagging hoard WHO CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE!

Charles and Caroline will be dropping in today to say "hi" and answer questions. Some of our readers can get a head start on the new book, too, as William Morrow will give galleys of An Unmarked Grave to three of our lucky commenters. (And the book is available for pre-order everywhere books are sold.)

I have to warn you, though, this is a dangerous proposition--if you haven't read one of the Bess books, you will then have to read them all. And if you haven't read the Rutledge books, you'll have to read those, too. So clear the decks!

POP IDOLS

2012-05-10T01:30:00.000-05:00

DEBORAH CROMBIE: And now, having contemplated scrubbing clothes on a washboard in historic Annapolis and doing without deodorant, for something completely frivolous....

A friend who is classically trained as a singer admitted to me last week--actually, make that "confessed"--that she never missed an episode of American Idol.

So I thought it was time I came out of the closet and admitted (confessed) that from January to May, my week revolves around the Wednesday and Thursday night shows. (Thank goodness for DVR, although when it gets close to the end, you don't want to hear the results after the fact. Or have your recording cut off just as they announce the winner because they've gone over the time limit!)

This year I have a couple of excuses for my devotion. First, one of the final four contestants, Hollie Cavanagh, is from my home town, McKinney, Texas. There have been Hollie Watching parties in the performing arts center here for the last few weeks, and before that in the local pub. (She is originally from Liverpool, so that's the Brit connection.) There are signs everywhere, even in my neighborhood supermarket, proclaiming "Vote Hollie!" If she makes it to the "final three" tomorrow night, there will be a huge hometown parade for her this weekend, and our town will be seen next week by some 60 million viewers. So as a community, we are invested.

And two, my book-in-progress features a girl singer, although it's a very small part, and a male guitarist, who is a primary character, so I've spent the last year or so reading singer/musician biographies and autobiographies and learning lots about the music business that I didn't know. So I'm fascinated by the behind-the-scenes stuff, the coaching by producers and well-known artists, and by watching the development of the singers who start out so raw and unpolished.

But that's only part of it. Why, I wondered, should we (who I assume consider ourselves to be literate and sophisticated) be embarrassed to admit that we care about these young artists doing their damnedest to realize a dream? The ones who only want to be famous are weeded out fairly quickly. Those that remain--and this season has one been one of the best in the history of the show--have real talent and work incredibly hard to achieve a goal. (For those who haven't watched in a couple of seasons, I think the replacement of Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul by Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez has been an enormous and very positive improvement. Oh, and Steven Tyler's autobiography was published by my publisher, so I hope it sold well... those profits go toward advances for those of us who aren't quite as famous...)

I think as a writer I have a particular empathy with the contestants--writers' careers are made on a combination of innate talent, hard work, and a capricious bestowal of public approbation, as is their success on the show.

But most of all, it's just plain fun. Just don't ask my husband if he agrees.

So what about you, REDS and readers? Will you confess or deny?

And if Hollie Cavanagh does make it through to next week, at least tune in to see my town! (I might be waving at you.)

HANNAH IVES GOES REVOLUTIONARY

2012-05-09T01:30:00.000-05:00

DEBORAH CROMBIE: It's May, and my treat for the month is a new Hannah Ives mystery, THE LAST REFUGE, from our Jungle Red friend, Marcia Talley! I'm always thrilled to see what Hannah is up to in a new book--it's like catching up with a great friend whom you've missed. Not to mention that Hannah always seems to find herself in places I'd like to go, and this time she's outdone herself. But I'll let Marcia tell you...

DEBS: In the last few books, Hannah's been involved in a murder in the Bahamas, been in an Amtrack train wreck, and investigated the death of a medium in Dartmouth, England. But in THE LAST REFUGE, Hannah is back home in Annapolis--but in very unusual circumstances.

MARCIA TALLEY: Jud Wilson, a young production assistant Hannah met in A Quiet Death, is now a producer at LynxEntertainment. One fine spring day, Jud shows up on Hannah’s doorstep with a problem. LynxE is days away from filming a historical reality show at nearby William Paca House and the “lady of the house” has abruptly left the cast. Would Hannah step into the role? Hannah is reluctant at first—three months living as if it were 1774 with no electricity, no running water, and the “necessaries” way out back sounds pretty daunting – but after a tour of the Georgian mansion and it’s fabulous garden, she finds herself weakening. Not to mention that the gorgeous costumes designed for the other woman fit her perfectly and – oh my gawd! – where did she get that amazing cleavage?!

DEBS: What gave you the idea for Patriot House, 1774? Is there a real house like that in Annapolis?

MARCIA: Yes, there is a real William Paca House, a classic 5-part Georgian mansion built around 1765 in the style of an English country villa by William Paca, a young lawyer who was one of four Maryland signers of the Declaration of Independence. It’s been meticulously restored with period furnishings, including the Paca family silver. I’ve toured the house many times – usually when we have out-of-town visitors – and the house is a popular place for weddings. It’s just half a block away from where Hannah lives with her husband, Paul, on Prince George Street.

It’s not just an interest in the house, though. For years, I’ve been fascinated with every day life in colonial Annapolis. My husband is a musician and his doctoral dissertation from Johns Hopkins focused on Annapolis’s historic Tuesday Club, a group of prominent Annapolitans—doctors, lawyers, clergymen, tavern-keepers—who met weekly (on Tuesdays, natch!) to eat, drink, sing, tell jokes and generally carouse. One of their members, Sir Thomas Bacon, also composed the earliest secular music we know of in the American colonies. Barry found the manuscripts scattered among three archival collections, reunited and restored them for his book, “Secular Music in Colonial Annapolis” which ended up getting published by the University of Illinois Press as part of their Music in Colonial Life series. Sometime after that, a ball recreating one of the Tuesday Club anniversary celebrations was held at the Annapolis State House (where George Washington resigned his commission in 1783) and we were asked to participate. Barry played harpsichord, there was a violinist (as was the custom) and costumed couples danced minuets and jigs in the State House by candlelight to music that had last been performed in that very spot back in 1750. It was magic. I was hooked.

DEBS: What kind of research did you do for Hannah's stay in Patriot House? Did you wear the clothes, eat the food--or, oh, my gosh, go without shampoo?

MARCIA: Or deodorant! Or toilet paper! LOL. I did eat the food—Apple Tansy is delicious, but I drew the line at Pig’s Head pudding—and was continually amazed at how l-o-n-g it took to prepare certain colonial staples, like beaten biscuits where you combine flour, water and lard and actually beat it with a stick for an hour or two! I can tell you from experience that this culinary cardiovascular-aerobic exercise is made bearable only by imagining that the dough is the head of the bitch who married my father after my mother died. And I tried on the costumes, of course. In spite of being trussed up in stays like a Thanksgiving turkey, they were amazingly comfortable. I had to practice arranging my skirts, underskirts and hoops so I could actually sit down in a chair, though, and until I got the hang of it, I could sweep a coffee table clean with one pass like an over-enthusiastic collie.

Seriously, I’d been a fan of those historical reality shows on PBS where they take a dozen or so modern-day people and see how they cope with everyday life in another time and place. Shows like Colonial House, Manor House, Frontier House and even Texas Ranch House ("110 degrees! 200 cows! 47,000 acres and 15 people!!!") Who could resist that? I watched them all. I also paid several visits to Colonial Williamsburg, and I talked to living history specialists and recreationists like Dr Joe Gagliardi who practices medicine both in the past as Dr A. Dobbs and in the present as head of a Maryland detox center. I borrowed books from my friend, Lucia St. Clair Robson, who writes historical novels—Lucia even keeps a file of amusing colonial ways to die!—and the folks at the William Paca House continue to be amazingly supportive. I got the deluxe tour of the house, including the secret passages! – and they let me wander around and take photographs which are normally strictly forbidden.

DEBS: I think the garden would have hooked me!

It's such an interesting set-up--Hannah isolated in the past, separated from present-day life in Annapolis by a stone wall …

MARCIA: Yes, but remember there’s a camera team on site twelve hours each day and stationary cameras are running pretty much 24/7!

DEBS: [laughs] There is that! One of the things I enjoyed about your book is that each chapter is headed by a quote from one of the “diary cams” that are set up around the house where cast members can record what they’re really thinking. I can just imagine some of the things I'd have said...

MARCIA: I loved doing that. One day the housemaid fumes, “I just got my period and they expect me to deal with it by stuffing rags down my panties. It’s totally gross. If you can’t bring me some Tampax, I’m out of here!.”

DEBS: Or when the cook threatens to kill the next cameraman who waltzes through her 18th-century kitchen with an Egg McMuffin!
MARCIA: Exactly. But Hannah does get out from time to time--with a camera escort, of course—like when she goes to the dressmaker or to the market, or to church on Sunday.

DEBS: So, once you got all these characters together in the house …

MARCIA: It’s like the classic English snowbound in the country house murder, isn’t it, but with a twist!

Patriot House, 1774 is set in the turbulent days leading up to the American Revolution. As I mentioned earlier, Hannah steps at the last minute into the role of sister-in-law to John “Jack” Donovan, as mistress of the historic home. (In the picture, Hannah’s bedroom is on the second floor, the two windows on the right!)

While cameras roll, Hannah mothers the Donovan children -- rambunctious young Gabriel and lovesick teenage Melody – and interacts with a cast that also includes Karen Gibbs, an African-American cook and her young son; Michael Rainey, tutor; and Amy Cornell, ladies maid, the young widow of a Navy SEAL. A housemaid, valet, gardener, groom and visiting dancing master round out the cast. They get their instructions from a mysterious entity called “Founding Father” – think Big Brother meets Manor House—via a daily post rider, so every day is a surprise.

During a visit to the dressmaker where Hannah is being fitted for the gown she will wear to the gala State House ball that is the finale of the show, an anachronistic (and strictly forbidden) iPhone chimes from its hiding place in the folds of Amy's underskirt, bearing a text message from Amy’s dead husband, Drew. Amy dismisses the message as a cruel hoax. In fact, she’s already moving on with her life: Hannah surprises Amy and Alex Mueller, the dancing master, locked in a compromising embrace on the back staircase. After that … well, as they say, the plot thickens.

DEBS: Indeed it does, and much more quickly than the beaten biscuits! Did you come away from this book with a greater appreciation of all things modern?

MARCIA: Absolutely. In modern-day America, we take so much for granted. Twist a tap and the water comes on—cold or hot! Take a call on your cell phone pretty much anywhere. For plot purposes, I had to jam the cell phone signal at Patriot House.

DEBS: If anyone offered you a chance to do an historic reenactment, like Patriot House, would you take it? (I don't think you'd catch me signing up for Texas Ranch House:-))

MARCIA: I like to think I’d be as adventurous as Hannah, but three months living without running water would be daunting – and I know this because we spend time each year living on an island in the Bahamas where power outages occur almost daily. After several hours without power – which means no running water, no lights, no (gasp!) Internet – I get pretty cranky. We finally bought a gasoline-powered generator. You have to shout over the roar, but at least you can flush the toilets. I guess I’m a spoiled brat.

DEBS: I love the title. Where did the it come from?

MARCIA: It's a quote from Samuel Johnson, circa 1775. "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel."

DEBS: Clever man, that Sam.

REDS and readers, this last wonderful photo is of Marcia and her husband, Barry, in costume for the recreation of the ball at the Maryland State House. Isn't it fabulous?

And are any of you as adventurous as Hannah (and Marcia?) Marcia will be dropping in today so do say "hi."

OWLS AND LARKS

2012-05-08T01:30:00.000-05:00

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I am an OWL. I have been an owl my entire life, even as a baby. And over the years I've developed a considerable resentment for those very annoying people (some of them my best friends) who are LARKS.

There's always been something so puritanically virtuous about morning people. The early bird gets the worm and all that. Writers who get up at four in the morning to get their pages in are universally admired for their dedication. Writers who STAY up until four in the morning to get their pages done are just weird.

But, at last, it seems I might have some justification for the fact that my brain tends to get the cosmic download about 11 pm. Whether you are a morning or a night person is called "diurnal preference", and according to recent studies, it may be at least partly encoded in our genes. If a group of people are kept on the same light-dark schedule for several weeks, some people will go to bed and wake early, some will go to sleep late and lie-in. Each person will find their own natural timing within the day - their chronotype--and chronotypes vary within a population. A number of genes have been identified which are associated with sleep timing and sleep preference.

Of course, the whole issue of how and when we sleep is much more complicated than that. It's affected by light/dark cycles and societal attitudes, among many other things. Sleep deprivation is glorified in much of modern culture, although it costs billions of dollars in work loss and health problems.

I spent a good deal of time in Mexico from childhood through my early twenties, and found life there a perfect fit for my body clock. Up between 8 and 9, a light breakfast, work until 1 or 2, have the main meal of the day, then a siesta, then back to work until 8 or 9 at night after which there would be a light supper. It's still my preference when I can set my own schedule.

Maybe my ancestors were Mediterranean rather than northern European stock. And maybe it's a good thing I'm a writer and not a milkman (or woman) and I get to indulge myself on a fairly regular basis--except when I'm on book tour....

And now, as it's 11:24 pm, I'm going back to work for a bit. I've just figured out a problem with a scene that's been nagging me all day.

What about you, REDS and readers, are you OWLS or LARKS, and do you find one more virtuous than the other?

DO YOU CUMBERBATCH?

2012-05-07T01:30:00.000-05:00

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Having confessed, if a bit belatedly, that I've never seen an episode of Mad Men, can you guess why I put a red circle around Sunday, May 6th, on my calendar?

Yes, it's the return of SHERLOCK, on PBS Mystery, the first episode of the second three-part adaption of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Only in this newest version, created by Dr. Who collaborators Mark Gatiss and Stephen Moffat, Sherlock and Watson, and the villains who challenge them, exist in modern times. (Gloriously modern London, to be exact.) John Watson, MD, has returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan as an army doctor, and Sherlock--well, if you haven't seen the first series, I'd highly recommend you get your hands on the DVDs and watch immediately before diving into Season 2.

Sherlock is played by an actor with the unlikely name of Benedict Cumberbatch. Benedict Cumberbatch???? Really??? In the old movie days, surely his name would have been changed to something sexier and more audience friendly... But then, once you've seen him, you can't imagine him being called anything else. It would be like Humphrey Bogart not being Humphrey Bogart.

Not that I'm comparing the two. Bogart was brilliant. But Cumberbatch is...Cumberbatch. I can't think of a comparison. He's arresting, brilliant, geeky, and incredibly sexy in a weird way.

(I've just seen him play 1970s MI6 spy Peter Guillam in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and he steals the movie, even from Gary Oldman.)

In the new SHERLOCK, Martin Freeman is wonderful as Watson. My only regret is that both actors were so busy (Cumberbatch making Tinker Tailor and War Horse, as well as voicing Smaug the Dragon in The Hobbit, and Freeman playing Bilbo Baggins in same) that there was a long gap between Season 1 and Season 2 of SHERLOCK.

So, REDS, do you Cumberbatch? And do you have a favorite Sherlock, from Basil Rathbone to Jeremy Brett to Robert Downey, Jr. in the new film versions?

RHYS BOWEN: I didn't think I was going to like this new interpretation of Sherlock when I saw it on TV last year, but I found it fascinating. Of course watching Cumberbatch and Freeman was a plus but also Holmes using modern technology--which of course he would have embraced had he lived today.
And if my name was Benedict Cumberbatch I would definitely have changed it--think of signing autographs. His hand would fall off!

I always hated Rathbone and wasn't too keen on Robert Downey Jr. Jeremy Brett got the character right in many ways, but he was way too old. So was Watson. They are essentially young men in the stories. We tend to forget that because of the way Holmes has been portrayed on screen.

DEBS: Rhys, I so agree. Holmes was always a man ahead of his time, so it's such fun to see Holmes AND Watson using modern technology. I love it when we see what Holmes is thinking as a text:-) And yes, they are the perfect age. I recently reread some of the first Holmes stories and they are young men. In the new series, Moriarty is young, too, which makes it all the more interesting.

HALLIE EPHRON: I love the new Sherlock, too - it's clever in the way that Holmes is meant to be clever. And cheeky. Can't wait to start watching the new episodes.

I did like Jeremy Brett as Sherlock, but he got a bit too twitchy and mannered and skeletal toward the end. The BBC so often nails it with mystery sleuths. Can't beat David Suchet as Hercule Poirot or Joan Hickson as Miss Marple.

LUCY BURDETTE: Sorry to say I'm utterly out of the loop on this one! My husband and I just last night finished the final episode of Season 2 of DOWNTON ABBEY so you can see I'm not on the cutting edge. Sigh. On your recommendations, will have to put this in the queue...

JAN BROGAN - I used to watch the PBS version long ago when Sherlock was uncomfortably nervous and shaky and there were repeated references to his use of... what was it cocaine? Or opium? Watson was really the one I rooted for. Was that Rathbone's Sherlock? Whoever it was, he sort of turned me off on Sherlock Holmes and I'm afraid I really haven't given him a chance since.

But I've seen War Horse and now I'm trying to figure who Cumberbatch played. Off to google....

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I am so delighted with the new Sherlock! It's completely fascinating and revealing about the quality of the stories that the current writers could make Watson a veteran of the CURRENT war in Afghanistan. I love that Holmes is a character we know so well that we can believe he'd text. I mean--they might have decided to do a new Sherlock who hated technology, and insisted on relying on the old ways, right? But they went the riskier way, and I say hurray.

And I will confess to adoring Basil Rathbone. And adoring Robert Downey, Jr. (I'm sorry, I know, it's--not hip of me.) Jeremy Brett--somehow that didn't work for me. I watched them anyway, of course. Shall we talk about Jennifer Garner as Miss Marple? Okay, later...

ROSEMARY HARRIS: Cut my teeth on the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce movies and they will forever be the gold standard (in my mind anyway.) There was one movie..Terror By Night?..that was set during WWII and I didn't like that so not sure I'd like the new series. Haven't seen. And remembering Jeremy Brett as Freddie Aynsford Hill in My Fair Lady ("it's the new small talk...you do it so awfully well!") I could never see him as Holmes without expecting him to belt out On the Street Where You Live.

DEBS: Hank, is it not cool to like the Robert Downey version? I didn't know that... Because I do, although I liked the first movie better than the second. And I love Jude Law as Watson.

I did like Jeremy Brett, although I agree he got a bit twitchy and weird towards the end of the series.

But no one, as far as I'm concerned, has topped Cumberbatch and Freeman for perfect casting and cleverness. And no one has come near Gatiss and Moffat on the writing.

For those of you who aren't yet Cumberbatch converts, you have a treat in store.

How about you, readers? Do you like--or love--the new Holmes?

Are we still Mad for Don Draper?

2012-05-06T00:30:00.000-05:00

ROSEMARY HARRIS: Chiseled jaw. Check.Ferocious libido. Check. Man of few words. Check. And he smokes and drinks with reckless abandon, which, in a fictional character, can be pretty darn sexy. What's not to like about Don Draper (aka Dick Whitman)the tortured soul at the heart of Mad Men?

I came for the clothes but stayed for the characters. (I suppose the same could be said of my addiction to Downton Abbey, which btw got me a nod from the folks at downtonabbeyaddicts.com this week.) Those dresses, those hats. And Joan, who is every full-figured gal's poster girl. But Mad Men belongs to Don.

At first, I shared his Something Happened/Man in the Gray Flannel suit pain. I understood his deception and saw how he got caught up in living a lie. He was hot, he was brilliant and he didn't play by anyone else's rules.

But has he turned into a little bit of a jerk? Why did he ever marry Zou Bisou Bisou? And now that he has,despite his declarations to Pete and anyone else who'll listen as to how much he's changed, why is he treating her like just another hookup? Does anyone else think he should have stayed with the big blonde whose name I've forgotten?

On another note how much do you love not-so-little-anymore Sally? Is she getting an education this season, or what?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I sang Zou Bisou Bisou for DAYS after that episode. Not as well as ..what's her name? But it was SUCH a disturbing scene.
http://youtu.be/pyy8roNU060

Now they're making her a brilliant ad person and a team player, which is fun.) Yeah, I agree, I liked Don at the beginning, when he was mostly..smart. And creative. Then they made him downright creepy and even abusive.
Sally is my candidate for serial killer--selfish and calculating and self-centered. Lies at the drop of a...babysitter. Didn't you love that she said the sitter (Who is she again?) tripped over her brother's toy--when it was really over Sally's phone cord?
Finally--the conversation between Peggy and her mother when she announced she and the beau were going to live together--perfect! I had EXACTLY the same conversation. Word. For. Word.

JAN BROGAN: Wow, Hank, you sang that song for days? It made me wildly uncomfortable, I felt so embarrassed for poor Megan. But I still root for Betty, which I can't understand because she is so unlikeable.

I actually think Don Draper is improving because he's trying to stay faithful to Megan. At this point in the series, I think he's truly falling for her and that she is going to dump him as she becomes liberated with the changing times. But I may be deceiving myself. I saw an interview with Jon Hamm and the cast on Charlie Rose where Jon said the biggest viewer misconception about Don Draper was that "he has redeeming characteristics." In essence, Jon said, viewers keep ascribing better motives to Don than he really has. (Maybe because he is so good looking? Or because he is the protagonist?) So that should take us on a wild ride this season.
And I think we should give Sally a break. She's been through a lot and oh, with that mother of hers. What creeps me out most is her relationship with that kid from the neighborhood. And where is he living now when we see him on the end of that phone? Reform school?

ROSEMARY: That kid is SO CREEPY! He's even hard to look at. If Hank thinks Sally is a potential serial killer (I thought future bra-burner) what does she think of weirdo boy? I see the creator of a Phone Sex empire. Babysitter is Betty's mother-in-law!

HALLIE EPHRON: (Fingers in my ears, humming!) ACK! I have not seen the new episodes! Waiting, waiting -- I get the episodes off Netflix after the season ends and can hardly wait!
But I have to say I never "liked" DD. He's a consummate narcissist, cold, only interested in the quest. And for me the draws of the show are the women, most especially Christina Hendricks/Joan and Elisabeth Moss/Peggy, surviving in a man's world. Yes, and "poor little Sally" who gives as good as she gets--anyone remember The Bad Seed with Patty McCormack? But with parents like that, she's learned from the pros.

ROSEMARY: Hallie don't read this......Have to say I'm curious as to whether or not Skinny Betty will make an appearance this season. Don't especially like (or get the attraction of) Henry but he earned points for telling Chubby Betty she was beautiful.

What do the rest of you think? And pass me that shaker of martinis....

Fiesta!

2012-05-05T00:30:00.000-05:00

ROSEMARY: Happy Cinco de Mayo! It's never too early to start partying and my recipe for a good
party is good people, good food, good music and a fair amount of spirits! And we've got them all.

Let's decorate and set the table first - vintage tablecloths with Mexican motifs, blue glasses...

Menu -Paella,gazpacho, salsa, black bean dip (love it!), chicken mole (yum!),huevos rancheros, Mexican salad,fish tacos, Key Lime Pie, flan

Music by Jimmy Buffett, Los Lobos, Linda Ronstadt and the Gipsy Kings (and Joe)!

http://youtu.be/mifnMC_Kn1Q

We're dressed to the nines (nuevos?) in rebozos, peasant blouses, turquiose jewelry, sombreros, long skirts, boots, vintage Mexican jackets (the blue one is mine) and huaraches - and tap shoes - and we're hoisting cervezas, sangria, tequila shots, skinny margaritas, palmyras and mojitos. Sounds like a party!
http://youtu.be/to-jCxxX-sM

Are you ready to hear this weeks winners?
Monday - Mo, Skipperhammond and Lynda
Tuesday - Lora, Jan J and Mar (annabelle jacob)
Wednesday - Joan Emerson, Darlene Ryan and lil Gluckstern
Thursday - Julie Tollefson, Brenda and Storage Units
Friday - Deb Romano, DebbieRH and Storyteller Mary

Please send your snail mail addresses to me at rosemary@rosemaryharris.com and I'll send your prizes out asap.

Gracias to all the JR readers who joined the party this week and to my fellow JRs for letting me throw this party! May I suggest that you Like them all on facebook?
http://www.facebook.com/deborah.crombie
http://www.facebook.com/LucyBurdette
https://www.facebook.com/HankPhillippiRyan
https://www.facebook.com/Rhys Bowen
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hallie-Ephron/144681462260841
..and me, too? https://www.facebook.com/RosemaryHarriswriter

(Stop by tomorrow and let us know if you still love Don Draper - and to see today's winners.)

You're invited to a Cinco de Mayo party!

2012-05-04T00:30:00.000-05:00

ROSEMARY HARRIS: Let's not let a little thing like, oh...being in different states and cities (or a cracked pelvis) spoil the party! This Saturday the Jungle Reds will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo and you're all invited. There will be book and tchotchke giveways - more books from the Edgars winners and nominees - virtual margaritas and paella.

But you have to bring something to the party and tell us what you'll be wearing, what kind of music you'd like to hear. Five of the best party guests will win book prizes and the winners will be announced on Cinco de Mayo.

I'm bringing a six-pack of Negro Modelo beer (even though the Dos Equis man IS the most interesting man in the world) and I may resurrect the outfit I wore when I went to a Halloween party as Frida Kahlo a few years back - hair braided, long skirt, peasant blouse, shawl, unibrow and I forced Bruce to dress up as Diego Rivera. What will you be wearing?

JAN BROGAN: I'll bring tequila shots - the cute ones that come in a sampler kit- with lots of salt and lime. All my peasant blouses and colorful skirts got given away in eighties, but I have cowboy boots and a tooled leather belt I can throw over a white beach dress I picked up in the Dominican Republic.

HALLIE EPHRON: I'm bringing fish tacos -- the kind I had in Florida last time I was there. And churros with sugar and cinnamon. I'm wearing a red mini-skirt an a black bolero jacket embroidered with white curlicues... and tap shoes. Definitely tap shoes. Not sure why.

ROSEMARY: I love it! And tap shoes make perfect sense to me. Why is that?

LUCY BURDETTE: I'm bringing Jimmy Buffett and his band to play for us. And key lime pie for dessert (no poison, I promise!) Wearing my imitation cowhide skirt and red boots...

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Going against the grain here. I do LOVE Cinco de Mayo. BUT it's Kentucky Derby Saturday!!! So I will be wearing a sundress and the most suitable derby hat I can find (will post pic.) Last year, never having had a mint julep, I very carefully looked up a recipe and made one from scratch. Hated it!!!! As in violently hated it. So this year I'm going with the English Derby favorite, Pimm's #1 cup, and will be glued to the big screen TV for the whole extravaganza. Afterwards, maybe I'll switch to Jan's tequila shots, put on some latin/reggae (I'm sure there is such a thing,) and cook some shrimp on the grill!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Sangria! No, Palmyras. Our favorite summer drink--its vodka, simple syrup, fresh lime juice--put in a shaker full of ice. Add several stems of fresh mint. Shake shake shake shake shake..and the ice pulverizes the mint. It turns out to be frothy pale green, icy and wonderful! After a few, you won't care what I'm wearing!
Queso fondito with jalapenos and chips for food...

But okay....Derby Day on Cinco de Mayo...I've got a long black chiffon skirt, wide black leather belt, dark green leather boots, and a white T-shirt from Hellman's. (Because Hellman's makes...) (I know, that outfit makes NO sense. But it's a look, right?) And still thinking about a hat...hmm.

ROSEMARY: LOVE mint juleps and have a bottle of Maker's Mark which my Kentucky pal Brian and his wife Melissa brought over one day but - Dios mio - my heart belongs to CERVEZA! Melon and mango on the street coated with chili pepper. Me gusta! Y usted?

Bring something to our Cinco de Mayo party, tell us what you're wearing and you'll be entered to win an MWA canvas bag filled with books!

The Return of Kale!

2012-05-03T00:30:00.000-05:00

ROSEMARY HARRIS: Okay so maybe kale never really left. But it was not a veggie that I remember getting a lot of press when I was younger. While the other JRs rhapsodize about the wonderful dishes they learned to cook at their mother's knee (I can write this only because she's passed on) - my mother was a terrible cook. Her idea of veggies was a CAN of peas and carrots. My recollection of them was that the only difference between the two was that some were green and some were orange. They tasted the same - watery and salty. (In fairness to her memory she was a terrific baker and I think I got that chip from her. But I digress.)

Doesn't it seem as if vegetables, like clogs and bell bottoms, gamine haircuts and cat eyes, go in and out of fashion?

Who decides? Do chefs have meetings, like fashion editors, and say things like Think radicchio! Kohlrabi is the new broccoli rabe! (BTW, when you're Italian and born in Brooklyn, broccoli rabe, like finocchio (fennel) never goes out of fashion.)

For a while there I kept seeing recipes that included either farro or spelt so - like a lemming - I bought some. Still in my pantry. But, I have totally taken the kool-aid on kale. I'm embarassed to say - nah, I guess not since I'm saying it - I can eat an entire bunch of kale. Garlic, olive oil, crushed red pepper. Yum. And the bonus is, it's good for you. I've been on such a kale tear, that as one of my Christmas presents last year he gave me a t-shirt that says Eat More Kale. (Available from a cool guy in Vermont at http://eatmorekale.com/ )

RHYS BOWEN: It's funny that we're discussing kale right now as my son is currently living with us and has gone vegetarian/alkaline diet in a big way. This includes about five pounds of veggies going into a juicer every morning and loads of kale. The way I like it is roasted, a little garlic and olive oil, so that it's like kale chips. He also made cashew cheese that is so yummy and tastes like sharp cheddar--served over roast veggies.

JAN BROGAN: Yeah, I hopped on the kale train for a while, too, Ro. I think its all a conspiracy of chefs, restaurant review critics, and those inspirational people on PBS who convince you that you have to eat healthier and make more money.
And just as I think thriller writers have a secret contest among themselves as who can add the more preposterous twist at the end of a book, I think chefs have a contest who can add the most preposterous (but oddly delicious) ingredient. I mean who ever thought the BEET would come back and be gourmet?

HALLIE EPHRON: I love beets! Always have. And fresh beets, though they are an awful mess to make, are so delicious.
Oven roasted veggies are my new 'train.' Cut them into bite-sized pieces and just coat lightly with olive oil and coarse salt -- carrots, turnips, potato, beets, even KALE (but cook them separately because Kale cooks fast and before you know it all you've got are burnt embers)! Roasted they all sweet and a little nutty. Mmmm.

ROSEMARY: I've been using the Williams-Sonoma recipe for roasted veggies for years. I add fennel and balsamic vinegar.

LUCY BURDETTE: Yeah, that's the thing Ro, kale is good for you. Really good for you. I have one recipe with it that I love--in fact my hub does too. We fight over the leftovers: http://www.mysteryloverskitchen.com/2012/02/lacinto-kale-with-lentils-and-pasta-by.html

I one time grew kohlrabi in my garden but I never did really "get" that vegetable so I won't bother again. The one I love that never seems to be in fashion is okra. We were so mad last year when deer ate ours down to stalks. Over and over. I love it sliced, dipped in egg and cornmeal, and then fried with chunks of onion and pepper. MMMMMMMMM

ROSEMARY: The fabulous (Raven Award winner) Molly Weston turned me on to fried okra the first time I toured in North Carolina. It's almost worth all the hard work of writing a book to get to eat that once a year! And to visit Molly.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Lucy, the kale recipe looks fab, but I'm afraid it wouldn't go over in my house. I make a white bean, sage, and smoked sausage soup with fresh spinach stirred in at the last minute. So I saw a box of tiny little fresh organic kale at Whole Foods, and thought, "I'll just see if I can sneak in a substitution." It was delicious--and dear hubby wouldn't eat it. Sigh. So much for even baby kale.
I'm with Hallie on the beets. Love them. All colors. Roasted. Steamed. In salads. But again, verbotten on our dinner menus. Ditto sweet potatoes, which I love and are really good for you. Sigh again.
My latest veggie indulgence, all on my own? Raw mini-bell peppers (red, yellow, and orange) and raw sugar snap peas, dipped in tzatziki. I don't care if they are fashionable or not.

LUCY: Me too on the beets--love the ones right out of the garden! On the tzatziki--do you make this yourself Debs? Recipe?

DEBS: Lucy, I buy it at CostCo, along with the mini-peppers and the sugar snap peas. It's full of garlic and cucumber, surprisingly low-cal, and is wonderful as a sauce for grilled fish, cooked fresh veggies, and even just as a dip for crackers and chips. The brand is called "Hannah."

ROSEMARY: My husband loves that stuff. And it was his mother's name (..but that's another blogpost, I suppose.)

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I love fiddleheads! Sauteed in butter. And we're still loving arugula, even though I know it's so 2010. (Grilled pounded flat chicken breasts, put on top of arugula so it kind of wilts, cover with barely sauteed chopped tomoatoes and garlic, then top with shaved parmesan.
I make potatoes Anna with sweet potatoes...YUM. (For winter, though.)
Kale. I'm so sorry. I hate kale. I think. I've never tasted it. And I don't think I will. I'm rotating away from it.

ROSEMARY: Sorry - I may be a gardener, but that basket of fiddleheads looks like a basket of worms to me. I love kale! It's angry! It fights back! It won't be ignored like my mother's peas and carrots. So, are there any new to you foods that have worked their way into your rotation?
Three commetors will win some of our favorite recent trade paperbacks!

(Don't forget to come back tomorrow for your official invitation to our Cinco de Mayo party!)

(And don't forget to come back

Daniel Judson - Confidence Man

2012-05-02T00:30:00.000-05:00

ROSEMARY HARRIS: We all suffer from it occasionally. That niggling feeling. A loss of confidence. After all the hard work...can we really do this thing? Can we finish that book? Or write another? Here's JR pal Dan Judson's take on confidence, a little perspective and coming full circle. And just to prove that Dan did survive his crisis of conscience and CAN keep writing great books, he's offering a free download of one of his best books.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+gin+palace+trilogy

DJ: I started my first book on May 11, 1982. I was all of nineteen and ending my sophomore year of college. My summer job as a cemetery worker was waiting for me back home in Connecticut--mowing the grass, trimming hedges, and yes, digging graves. When school ended, I headed back home determined to actually finish the book I had started. (I’d started several books before that, the first when I was fifteen, but could never get any of them past 100 pages.)

Upon my return home I quickly established a routine: I would work from eight to five, eat a steak and baked potato for dinner as I watched two reruns of M*A*S*H, then write until ten or so. Whenever it rained (and it rained a lot during the summer of ’82), I didn’t have to work, so I was free to spend all day on my book, which probably explains why, even now, thirty years later, rain often plays a part in so many of my stories.

I had a draft finished by the end of that summer, so I brought it back to school with me. But instead of going to classes, as I should have been, I found myself staying in my dorm room and obsessively rewriting. By the time November came around, the book was done—a whopping 180 pages, but that was the same length as The Great Gatsby, so I thought I was in good company.

Shortly after my twentieth birthday I submitted my less-than-epic manuscript to several editors at New York publishers, having gotten their names and addresses from a library copy of The Literary Marketplace. Then I sat back and waited for the inevitable acceptance letter, and subsequent riches. That book never sold, of course. But I had found what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a novelist. And I knew what I would have to do to make that happen.

I would have to write and rewrite obsessively. But more importantly, I would need a confidence that bordered on delusion. I mean, I was twenty and sending my manuscript to Knopf. Without an agent. What the frick?

The thing about confidence, I’ve learned over the years, is that it comes and goes so easily. Too easily. Over the next eighteen years, I wrote nine novels, and not one of them sold. My tenth book, though, that one felt…different. Things were coming together in ways they hadn’t before. I knew this was the one.

It took me over a year to complete that book, entitled The Bone Orchard. And within a matter of weeks of my finishing it, it sold to Bantam. (ROSEMARY: Here's a snippet of one of TBO's great reviews " THE BONE ORCHARD is an exciting private detective mystery that belies the fact that this book is D. Daniel Judson's first novel. The story line is loaded with action as readers take a tour of the underbelly of the Hamptons.") And that, strangely enough, was when my battle with confidence really began. I’ll spare you all the ups and downs of my career (there’s a longer version of this essay on my website, www.danieljudsonbooks.com should anyone want the gory details), but after ten years and eight novels, I found myself, along with a disturbing number of my fellow midlist authors, suddenly unable to find a publisher. Just like I had been for eighteen years.

Frustrated, I decided to take a break from writing. I began reading every memoir written by a WWII paratrooper that I could find. I don’t know why I was drawn to paratroopers in particular, but I was, and I trusted that, and with each memoir I read I began to see something. Every single man had who jumped out of an airplane in the middle of the night over Nazi-Occupied France had carried with him one thing. Confidence.

M1 rifles, trench knives, hand grenades--these were important, but what was crucial—what would ultimately make the difference—was confidence. In fact, the courses paratroopers ran during their training weren’t called “obstacle courses”, they were called “confidence courses”.

Now, I hadn’t given up on writing, but I had stopped. My confidence was shot. Publishing was in chaos. Things were, and still are for many of us, bleak. I had been unable to find a publisher for my last book. Did I really want to write another one? Did I even have what it took to write another? Send it out? Wait? Been there, done that.

And then one morning it just dawned on me: if some kid could jump into France to fight Nazis, then maybe, you know, I could write another book. I mean, compared to what those who served in WWII risked—not to mention what was at stake if they failed—what, really, was I risking?

I’m not a kid anymore, but somehow that reckless confidence that had set me on my way—and that had carried me through eighteen years of rejection—returned. Or at least enough of it did. I’ve been working on a new project for almost a year now. Will it sell? I don’t know. But I like this one. It’s…different. And things seem to be coming together in ways they haven’t before…

Also, it seems that traditional publishing isn’t the only game in town these days. However you may feel about Amazon.com, it is, right now, offering “out of work” authors like me a chance to reach readers. A lot of readers. And new readers, too.

I hesitated at jumping into that, though. Maybe it was a confidence thing—my books have always benefited from the editorial process, and putting your stuff out there without that seemed…daunting. I could of course hire a freelance editor, but there is a difference between an editor you pay and an editor who pays you. At least in my mind there is.

But I had two early books of mine—The Poisoned Rose and The Bone Orchard, both published in 2002. A Shamus Award-winner and a Shamus- and Barry- nominee. I should feel confident about those, right? And I had a third book, The Gin Palace—the final book in a trilogy, actually, that had started with Rose, and that ten years ago Bantam didn’t want, then wanted, then didn’t want again (long story).

They’d all been edited—and the first two had already been read and enjoyed (for the most part) by tens of thousands of readers. (Heck, Bruce Willis had wanted to buy the film rights to The Bone Orchard—yet another long story.) Why not put those up on Amazon as e-books and see what happened?

So that’s what I’m doing. I don’t claim to be a trailblazer here—many others have made this jump before me. (In paratrooper terms, those brave souls jumped into Normandy on D-Day, and I’m coming in around, say, Operation Market Garden.) And while those authors did it all on their own, I’m taking advantage of a new division that sprang up at my agent’s agency—Trident E-books Operations. The theory is, TEO will do a lot of the “leg work”—get the books up on Amazon, assist with marketing, and actively pursue all sub rights—which will/should free me up to actually write.

Maybe that book I wrote last year and couldn’t get published will go up on Amazon soon. Not sure whether I’ll do it through TEO or on my own—the jury is still out on that. And maybe the book I’m working on now will go up on Amazon as well. We’ll see.

One way or another, I’m determined to get my stuff read by readers.

Just like I was when I was nineteen. I tend bar these days—at the same hotel, in fact, where I was working when The Bone Orchard sold. I guess that brings me full circle. I no longer eat steak, and my work routine has flipped; I write in the mornings instead of at night.

It’s May 2nd, 2012, which means nine days from now will be the thirty year anniversary of the day I started my first book.

And today it looks like it just might rain…

ROSEMARY: That's a pretty inspirational story! Let's get Dan off to a good start with his Amazon promotion. (I'll be publishing with Amazon in a few weeks too!)
Read more about Dan at www.danieljudsonbooks.com

Lady Rosemary and the Real Downton Abbey

2012-05-01T00:30:00.000-05:00

ROSEMARY HARRIS: I'll admit it. I gave a little yelp of delight as our car continued up the long driveway and I caught my first in the flesh look at Highclere Castle, the stately home that is used in the PBS series Downton Abbey. I swear I heard the theme song and expected to see the white dog (Isis) wiggling her way to Lord Grantham's side.

Let me explain. Unexpectedly, my husband needed to go to London for the London Book Fair. I've been to London many times and had no legitimate reason to go - in fact I should have stayed home to cathc up on the tons of work which I still haven't caught up on. And that includes everything from writing to getting the window in my bathroom (which hasn't closed properly for 15 years) fixed. And then there was the sheer joy - sorry honey - of having some time alone. With no one to talk to but the dog. These days that's a real treat for me.

But Downton Abbey's second season had just ended. And on a flight to Dubai in February I watched the entire season again. How would I last until next January when season three is to start? I ordered three books from Amazon including Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey which I enjoyed immensely. There were pictures of Highclere. There really was a Bates (although not a valet.) The lady of the manor really did turn her home into a hospital during WW1. I googled the home. Yes! They did give tours and they were less than 2 hours outside of London. I could take a day trip.

But they were sold out for the day we arrived. And I couldn't leave earlier because mof a work commitment. And that was the last day until June when the house would be open to the public. I emailed four times. No ticket brokers. No packages. No hotel packages. No waiting lists. I was as plucky and as optimistic as one could be in an email. I dropped "the London Book Fair" as if to suggest I was the more famous Rosemary Harris. To no avail. I reported each failure to my husband

And then he surprised me. "I got the tickets. Do you want the house, the gardens and the Egyptian exhibit?"
I was flabbergasted. It wasn't clout or a close personal relationship with Prince William.

He emailed the director with the subject line "A Husband's Plea." He told them it was our anniversary - actually it was the 29th - and all I wanted was to see the place where Downton Abbey was shot. And they said yes! And the director sent us a lovely email saying that they hoped it would make beautiful memories for our celebration!

Is he a keeper or what? Anyway, here are some pix. There was a team of blue-haired docents who kept us from taking pictures inside the house (but I snuck a few.) I also dragged the poor man back a few days later and prowled around in the hopes that I would see them shooting. I didn't.

If you love the show, you will love a visit - I can't wait to go back.

In keeping with the post-WWI time period, today we are giving away a copy of A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd.

Get this party started!

2012-04-30T00:15:00.000-05:00

ROSEMARY HARRIS: Truth be told this party has been warming up since last Tuesday at the Mysterious Bookshop in New York where the launch party for MWA's latest anthology was held. Vengeance, edited by Lee Child, features stories by Michael Connelly, Karin Slaughter, Dennis Lehane, Zoe Sharp, Alafair Burke and a dozen others.

Next up was the Edgars Agents and editors party on Wednesday where Reds Lucy and Ro helped celebrate Hallie's second Mary Higgins Clark nomination. Thursday Edgar Judge Ro got to strut her stuff in a Mad Men style dress at the annual Edgars banquet (that's me with Meredith Cole, Erin Weston and Raven winner Molly Weston waiting for our limo!)- a list of all of the Edgar winners here http://theedgars.com/nominees.html
...and on Friday a trio of JRs headed south for Malice Domestic.

LUCY BURDETTE: We are delighted to report that our own Red, Rhys Bowen, won the Agatha teapot for best historical mystery, Naughty in Nice, Lucy (aka Roberta Isleib) did not come home with a teapot but was thrilled to be nominated for best short story!

HANK PHLLIPPI RYAN: Yay, Rhys! And Roberta, too--that's fantastic! (Oooh, and I'm nominated for three Emmys! For investigative reporting.) Party on!

ROSEMARY: Are you in party mode yet? Well, if you didn't make any of those events, this week on JR we're continuing the celebration by sharing our swag from those parties and hosting our own virtual Cinco de Mayo party on Saturday. Every day this week three lucky commenters will win books and bags from this season's mystery parties.

What's up this week?Tuesday - My trip to Highclere Castle, the real Downton Abbey
Wednesday - a visit from novelist Daniel Judson, who will share information on his latest cutting edge publishing venture with Amazon
Thursday - The Return of Kale (you know how the JRs love food!)
Friday - your official invitation to the Cinco de Mayo party
Saturday - Party On! Best outfit wins a bag of books
Sunday - Do we still love Don Draper?

So in honor of the release of Vengeance - tell us what you'd do - big, small, real or (hopefully) fiction - to get back at someone who did you wrong!

Three winners will receive copies of the book.

(Monday through Friday winners announced on Saturday, Saturday's winners announced on Sunday.)

One Hit Wonders and the Edgar Award (TM)

2012-04-29T20:48:00.002-05:00

Reds are pleased to welcome Ben LeRoy, Publisher of Tyrus Books and, previously Bleak House Books. Ben has long been a standard bearer of the history of our genre, whether of the noirish, or more traditional mystery bent. It is a privilege to welcome him today. Without further adieu...

On April 26th, the Mystery Writers of America announced the winners of the prestigious Edgar Allan Poe Awards across a variety of categories including Best Novel, Best Short Story, Best Episode of a TV Series, and Best First Novel in the mystery world.

The Edgar Awards have been given out since the mid-40s, though some categories weren’t handed out until later or handed out irregularly. As is the case with any award’s history, there are many familiar names. Stalwarts like Raymond Chandler, John le Carre, Donald Westlake, Dick Francis, Tony Hillerman, Robert B. Parker, Ken Follett, James Lee Burke, and Lawrence Block have won the Edgar Award for Best Novel. The bibliographies of these authors are common knowledge among fans of crime fiction.

But what about some of the other names on the list? What became of the winners who didn’t produce a string of best-selling books and whose names are lost to history to all but the most knowledgeable fans of crime and mystery fiction?

I’m particularly curious about those writers whose careers started off on a high note—winning the Edgar Award for Best First Novel. Notable winners include, James Patterson (1977, The Thomas Berryman Number) and Michael Connelly (1993, The Black Echo). In these instances, perhaps in part because of the attention the win brought to them, those authors have gone onto phenomenally successful careers that have made them household names to even casual readers not interested in mystery fiction.

But what about Julius Fast, the winner of the first ever Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1946 for his novel Watchful at Night? Fast went on to write a few more crime novels, but then spent the better part of his career writing non-fiction medical works. The first woman to win the Best First Novel was Helen Eustis for her work, The Horizontal Man (1947). Eustis wrote one more novel, The Fool Killer, and a collection of short stories. Is Eustis a name familiar to crime fiction readers today?

Nearly sixty years ago, in 1953, William Campbell Gault’s novel Don’t Cry for Me won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel. Don’t Cry for Me is the story of Pete Worden, the black sheep of a well-to-do family in California. Pete claims his only strengths lay in football and the military, and in an attempt to find honest work—and therefore inherit his portion of his father’s estate—he finds himself tangled up with a crime boss who’s got a finger in every unsavory pie in town. Two dead bodies show up in Pete’s apartment building in rapid succession, and he teams up with a police detective to clear his name and bring down the big man, Nick Arnold.

How does it compare to this year’s crop of nominees? Were there things—innovative at Gault’s time—that have become the eye roll inducing clichés that sometimes earn the genre a bad rap? I started Prologue Books with a particular interest in the evolution of the crime fiction family tree, knowing there was an almost inexhaustible collection of authors I’d never read or even heard of that have leaned heavy in the course of my own life. Now that the hard work of curating the first batch of titles has finally bore fruit, I’m excited to find the answers, and hope others will join in the pursuit, too.

From April 29 – May 5th, Prologue Books will be giving away Don’t Cry for Me for free in the Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble NOOK stores. Later in May, Prologue will sponsor a book club to discuss the differences and similarities in crime fiction as represented by Don’t Cry for Me and more contemporary novels, including this year’s Edgar Award winner for Best First Novel.

Visit http://www.prologuebooks.com/

Reds Sunday Afternoon Matinee

2012-04-29T06:04:00.004-05:00

Fear not faithful ones! Reds have NOT gone dark. Visit us for a very special episode of Blossom...no,no, no wrong header...visit us for a (late) Sunday afternoon Reds matinee!

Ben Tyrus, formerly publisher of Bleak House Books and now publisher of @TyrusBooks, visits with a fantastic historical piece on the Edgar Awards, their evolution and place in the literary oeuvre (oh yeah, nailed "oeuvre"!). Ben is clearly bucking for an Honorary Redhood, and a Reds peerage could not be conferred upon a neater guy. See you late Sunday afternoon!

Pico de Gallo from Linda Rodriguez

2012-04-28T01:10:00.001-05:00

LUCY BURDETTE: We are all so excited about Linda Rodriguez's debut novel, but I was doubly delighted to find out on Monday that she's also the author of a Mexican cookbook. So I begged her to share a recipe...and ps, the photo is not of Linda's pico de gallo, so don't be surprised if your dish looks nothing like this:).

LINDA RODRIGUEZ: The “I Don’t Know How To Cook” Book: Mexican was designed as part of a series to make cooking easy, even for people who don’t know how to cook or have never tried to cook. If fast food tacos and burritos are your idea of Mexican food, you’re in for a surprise. No one eating what passes for commercial Mexican food in America would have any idea of the variety of tastes and textures good Mexican food provides—or the variety of fruits and vegetables (almost always missing on that restaurant plate) found in good Mexican cooking.

Rooster’s Bill (Pico de Gallo)

You will find this different from the pico de gallo that your favorite Mexican restaurant serves, which is made from diced tomatoes, onions, and peppers. Use this as a sauce for tacos or as a side dish for a meal.
Serves 4

What You Need:
1 medium jicama
1 small yellow onion
1 large orange
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground oregano

What You Do:
1. Wash, pare, and chop jicama into 1/2" chunks. Remove skin from onion and cut into 1/4" pieces.
2. Pare and section orange, reserving juice, and add to jicama. Pour orange juice over mixture. Add onion, lemon juice, and salt. Stir until evenly mixed.
3. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.
4. Sprinkle with chili powder and oregano before serving.

This recipe got its name because it is frequently served by street vendors in Mexico City as finger food for their stand-up diners. The action of eating with the fingers is compared to the rooster pecking at corn in the farmyard.

Published in The “I Don’t Know How To Cook” Book: Mexican (Adams Media, 2008)

Thanks Linda! And good luck with the launch of EVERY LAST SECRET!

Social Media Round-Up

2012-04-27T01:10:00.001-05:00

LUCY BURDETTE: Don't you sometimes feel like you're in a whirling dervish of social media snippets, with no idea about how it really works or why? I sure do. I have a fan Facebook page and a personal page and a Twitter account and now I've arrived on the Pinterest scene.

I feel like I'm always a step behind on Facebook and Twitter, though I gamely march on. But Pinterest-I love it! I was a little worried about signing on because other writers warned about how addictive it can be. And it does take a little work to set up your boards, but after that, it's just fun for me. Here's a helpful link from Janet Boyer about how to think about marketing through Pinterest. But honestly it seems like it could be great for brainstorming, or sharing recipes, or remembering and organizing events and ideas that might otherwise get lost.

So I'd love to get your thoughts about what kind of social media you love (or hate) and why. And I've asked a few of our other writing pals to comment too.

KRISTA DAVIS: I'm enjoying Pinterest because it's one-step communication. There are no messages to return. I don't have to check to see what everyone pinned that day. If I skip it for a week, nothing bad happens. It's not like I missed anything. Yet, I can convey messages with simple images. I'm having fun adding the covers of my books as well as my friends' books. I've even started a file for photos that correspond to a book that's coming out soon. Wendy Watson had the brilliant idea of adding a Pinterest button to Mystery Lovers' Kitchen. Such a great idea. Now people can pin photos of our covers and recipes without worrying about copyright issues.

RHYS BOWEN: Oh, Lucy and Krista--I don't think I could find another moment to start any new form of social media. Already in my in=box is a long line of people wanting to connect with me on Linked-in. I have yet to find the value for me of Linked-in. Or of Goodreads. Or of Red Room. But they all communicate with me, demanding time and attention.

I'm a big Facebook fan. I love the instant connection with fans and friends. When I broke my wrist a year ago I got 300 messages of sympathy within a few minutes, advice on how to scratch within the cast and ten different people offered to type my manuscript for me.

I do tweet although I've yet to see the correlation between tweets and selling more books. I write my personal blog about twice a week and of course good old Jungle Red. Oh, and when I find the time, I write two books a year as well!

LUCY: so Krista, now you're the princess of Pinterest, but you're also the Twitter queen. How's that going? Any late-breaking tips or warnings?

KRISTA: LOL! No warnings, but I'm seeing a lot of agents, editors, and publishers using Twitter these days. Authors should look up their publishers and be sure to include them with an @ on important tweets about releases and reviews. The same goes for agents and editors. They have some impressive follower numbers.

SHEILA CONNOLLY: Actually I'm finding Pinterest kind of fun, too, because you can do whatever you want with it. Although my in-depth survey indicates that the most popular items are...cat pictures. Hey, that's easy--I've got plenty of cute cat pictures, and more coming all the time.

As a battle-scarred veteran of the Media Wars, I have seen all too many
social media variations surge to the fore, with hordes of adoring fans
stampeding to jump on them, only to watch them fall by the wayside when the Next Big Thing comes along in a week or a month. It's hard to get too excited about any one of them.

Just go with the cat pictures--works every time.

HALLIE EPHRON: I know I'm in trouble when cat pictures are required. I still don't tweet, and now here's something else that I don't do. I will, I will... or so I keep telling myself. Still love Facebook.

LUCY: So tell us, how do you think about posting to facebook Hallie?

HALLIE: I think of it as the beast that needs to be fed. Honestly? It's a guilty pleasure. I post in there just about daily. The friend page AND the fan page. And catch up with what friends are up to. It's one more way that people can find me, which is not a bad thing.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I love Facebook. I post on my public page almost every day, often just about things I think are interesting, rather than all about my books. I love getting comments and feedback, and I love keeping up with what other people are doing as well.

I am tweeting, but have to admit I don't like it as much. It seems overwhelming, and impersonal. But I keep trying, because it does seem to be the big promotional thing these days. (Although someone told me recently at a book event that their publicist said Facebook was much more important. And a fellow author at my publisher said they were told not to tweet, while I've been encouraged to do so... Hmmm.) I signed up for Pinterest, but forgot my password. I haven't looked at Linked-In for months and months, even though it seems like I get invitations to link every day. And I'm dreadful about posting regularly on my own blog.

It's all just too much, and I think you have to choose what works best for you. AND I'd really like to WRITE MY DAMNED BOOK.

ROSEMARY HARRIS: I need a tutorial on facebook public versus facebook profile. I'm dangerously close to advertising on craigslist for an expert. I like fb more than twitter. I love retweeting other people's fun tweets but don't see myself sitting aroiund creating soundbites so that people will retweet mine - and apparently that's the way to get people to follow.

And I love Sharing when other people have good news - it's such a positive thing to do!

LUCY BURDETTE: But Ro, you've got over 7000 fans--you must be doing something right! How about you all? What's your take on social media?

You Say You Want A Revolution…

2012-04-26T01:00:00.000-05:00

LUCY BURDETTE: Libby Fischer Hellmann was one of my earliest friends in the mystery business--energetic, talented, and indomitable. Since her first novel was published in 2002, she's never stopped stretching her writing muscles in different and interesting ways. Today we welcome her to talk about her new thriller, A BITTER VEIL.

LIBBY HELLMANN: As crime writers we learn early that “conflict” is the most essential ingredient of fiction. We learn that there must be conflict on every page, even if a character just wants a glass of water but can’t get it. Over the years, I’ve taken that lesson to heart. I’m always looking for conflict, large or small. Recently I may have taken it to the extreme by writing about revolutions. In fact, my publisher says I’m in the midst of my “revolution trilogy.” (She’s not far off—my next book will be set largely in Cuba.)

But I come by it more or less honestly—I was a history major in college, and I still love to examine the past and how it affects the present. And what triggers more conflict than a revolution? Whether it’s the French, Russian, Cuban, Chinese, American—well that one was a little different—or what we’re now calling the Arab Spring, nothing shakes the foundation of a society more than internal strife.

A revolution provides conflict that can affect an individual, a family, a village, a government, and its relation to the rest of the world…in a word, everything. It is a time where people can prove to be cowards or heroes, informants or patriots. People form unusual relationships, while others are torn apart. Love can flourish, but so can hate. A member of one family can be an enemy to the others—to the point of violence or death.

The rumbling of discontent always precedes the revolution, and there’s usually an overreaction afterwards. In the French, Russian, Cuban, and Chinese revolutions, a period of extremism followed the overthrow of the king, czar, or government. And those periods can prompt even more conflict and chaos. Even a revolution that didn’t quite make it—for example, the period of the late Sixties in the US, which was the setting for my previous thriller, SET THE NIGHT ON FIRE—can be a powerful source of turmoil.

That was one of the reasons I chose to write about Iran. The Islamic Revolution profoundly changed the Iranian people and their culture. Persia has been invaded many times over the centuries, but invaders tended to assimilate the magnificent Persian culture rather than imposing their own on Persia. Not this time. Was it because the revolutionaries were insurgents and not foreign invaders? I’m not sure, but it was a compelling question. Plus, the revolution was relatively recent. Fortunately or not, the Iranian revolution has been of the best-covered revolutions in history. Most of us can remember TV news footage of the Shah piloting his plane out of Iran, and the return of Khomeini a few weeks later. It was not difficult to find films, books, articles, and other materials that made my research relatively easy.

The other reason I chose to write about Iran was personal. It’s a strange story, and I still am not sure how I got it wrong. I went to a high school reunion years ago, and one of my former classmates told me how she’d fallen in love after college with an Iranian and moved with him to Tehran before the Shah left. Afterwards her life became difficult and ultimately impossible, and she came back to the States. I decided to fictionalize her story and when it was done, I, of course, called her to let her know what I’d done. When we finally connected, it turned out that she hadn’t gone to Iran at all. She’d gone to India! My first reaction was disbelief…how had I screwed that up? Clearly, it was a subconscious error. After a while, though, I realized it didn’t matter. I’d written the story I was supposed to write.

However it developed, though, it’s never been my intention to write a political screed. For me story trumps everything, but if it can be enhanced by conflicts large and small, so much the better. That’s what I hoped to accomplish in A BITTER VEIL. I hope it works for you.
A BITTER VEIL -- April 2012

Libby will be happy to take comments and questions. You can also like her on Facebook
and follow her on Twitter. :

The Body in the Boudoir: #20 for Katherine Hall Page

2012-04-25T01:00:00.000-05:00

LUCY BURDETTE: I'm psyched because I'll be hanging out with one of my favorite traditional mystery writers, Katherine Hall Page, both at Malice Domestic later this weekend and then at the Leominster library (MA) on May 10, along with Rosemary Herbert. Katherine will be celebrating the release of her 20th Faith Fairchild novel on May 1. Twenty! so thrilled for you Katherine. Tell us how in the world you keep things exciting but believable for your character--and for you, the writer?

KATHERINE HALL PAGE: As for the believable part, I'll tell you what my legendary editor, the late Ruth Cavin, replied when I asked her how people could believe that this woman kept stumbling across bodies (this was at book three). "It's fiction, Katherine. You can do whatever you want." This sounds simple, but it's a very liberating notion. I'm creating an imaginary world and telling a story that occurs within it. If I believe it, readers will. The exciting part is not too difficult as there's always another peril awaiting my Pauline. I alternate the books set in Aleford, a fictitious town west of Boston with what I call the "Someplace Else Books"—coast of Maine, France, Vermont, Norway, Manhattan, Hilton Head, Martha's Vineyard, Charleston to name some. It keeps things fresh for me and adds another challenge.

LUCY: That's such good advice! Ruth Cavin was full of wisdom, from what I've heard. (Our Julia had her as an editor as well.) When you first cooked up (ahem) the idea of a caterer married to a minister, did you ever imagine you'd have a successful series that lasted this long? Anything you would have changed about Faith if you'd known you'd be traveling together for 20 books plus?

Katherine: As for so many series writers, I thought I was just writing one book and until Ruth Cavin asked when she could expect the next one in the series was clueless. I started out writing in real time, but after the fourth or fifth book slowed things down (again, it's fiction!). I've tried to think whether I would have changed anything in those early books "Had I But Known", but really have never been able to point to anything specific.

LUCY: Since I'm following (very far behind) in your footsteps as a culinary mystery writer, I have to ask: What kind of a cook are you? Do you develop the recipes in the books?

KATHERINE: The recipes are the most difficult parts of the book to write as they need to be original, can't just copy Julia. I also have never wanted them to be caterer's recipes specifically, but accessible to all with ingredients anyone can afford and find plus no complicated techniques. Above all, they have to be tasty. I cook like the recipes not like Faith Fairchild when she's catering something—you'll seldom find one of these recipes included unless it's simple. I've always thought of food as a way of communicating—love, caring, all those good things. Despite an empty nest, I'm still cooking dinner every night. And yes, on occasion, I do use my own cookbook Have Faith in Your Kitchen, which came out last year.

LUCY: Before you go, will you give us a little thumbnail sketch of the new book, THE BODY IN THE BOUDOIR? And maybe a recipe too?

KATHERINE: It's 1990, and Faith Sibley is a single young woman leading a glamorous life in New York City. She has good friends, a cozy apartment, and her own flourishing catering business, Have Faith. Then, at a catering event, she meets the handsome, charming Reverend Thomas Fairchild. A daughter and granddaughter of clergymen, Faith has sworn to avoid a parish's fishbowl existence. But it's love at first sight, and before she knows it her life is changing drastically.

In spite of being overwhelmed by her decision to leave her home in the Big Apple and the multitude of tasks involved in getting married, Faith has no doubts about being married to her beloved Tom. But someone out there is dead set on making sure that she doesn't reach the altar. Before it's too late, she needs to figure out who is trying to sabotage the wedding—by eliminating the bride!

The following recipe is what she makes when she goes to Aleford to check out the parsonage where she'll be living—almost a deal breaker. Fiance Tom's fridge offers very little, but she puts together this ultimate comfort food and the two lovers eat in front of a cozy fire. She decides things are going to be all right after all.

Veggie Mac ‘n Cheese

6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese
2 red bell peppers
3 large garlic cloves
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon paprika (preferably smoked)
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 ounces penne, ziti or elbow macaroni
5 cups cauliflower florets

Shred the cheese and set aside. Reserve 1/4 cup to sprinkle on top.
Dice the peppers, mince the peeled garlic cloves, and place in a saucepan with the 1/2 cup of water. Bring to a boil and lower to simmer until the vegetables are very soft, about 15 minutes.
Boil water for the pasta.
Steam the cauliflower and when it is soft, transfer it to a bowl and mash roughly—you want some texture.
Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package and in the meantime place the contents of the saucepan, the butter and milk in a food processor or blender. Pulse until smooth. Add the mixture to the cauliflower along with the shredded cheese, paprika, and salt. Drain the pasta and fold it into the sauce. Stir well so all the pasta is coated. Pour it into a casserole and top with the reserved cheese. Bake in a preheated 350 ° oven until nicely browned and bubbling. The red peppers give the sauce a bright color and the smoked paprika, widely used in Mediterranean cooking, adds a subtle flavor as well as more color.
Serves six.
You may also serve this sauce over pasta without baking.

Thanks for visiting Katherine! Katherine will stop in today to answer comments and questions. You can also follow her on Facebook.

It's an Honor to be Nominated by Steve Ulfelder

2012-04-24T01:00:00.000-05:00

LUCY BURDETTE: We writers have some really special moments and one of them is getting nominated for an award. (Right now, Hallie's book COME AND FIND ME is nominated for the Mary HIggins Clark award, and Rhy's NAUGHTY IN NICE is nominated for a Malice Domestic's Agatha award for best historical novel, and my story "The Itinerary" is nominated for an Agatha for best short story.) One of our good New England friends has a book nominated for an Edgar best first novel--as you've heard in other blog posts, we'd all kill for to land an Edgar. Instead of wallowing in envy, we're so thrilled for Steve. And as he's going to tell us, there's nothing better than the days and weeks before the winner is announced.

STEVE ULFELDER: While waiting for a panel at Bouchercon 2011 in St. Louis, I struck up a conversation with a guy who looked even more overwhelmed than I was by the
massive conference. (No mean feat, that - I'm easily overwhelmed. It's my
natural state.)

We had a lot in common. Like me, the guy was from Massachusetts. Like me, he'd recently seen his debut novel published. And like me, he was - I remember this great line - "waiting for the parade to come by my house." Unspoken follow-up: It would be unwise to hold your breath waiting for that particular parade.

The guy turned out to be Leonard Rosen. His debut was the brilliant All Cry Chaos. And half a year after that Bouchercon meeting, the two of us are up for the Best First Novel Edgar.

Small world.

Funny thing, publishing your debut. It's the biggest moment of your life. People tell you you're pretty great. You are queen or king for precisely 24 hours (release day) plus the duration of your launch party.

And then.

The wheel keeps rolling. The machine grinds on. The next batch of writers, debut and otherwise, get their turn. Their reviews are (at least) as good as yours, their blurbs (at least) as impressive.

So you take one last glance out front just in case there is a parade going past (there isn't), then do what writers do: plop yourself in the chair and work on another book. A better book.

As it turns out, Len Rosen and I have become friends. We bump into each other at panels, conferences, and festivals, and I'm always happy to see him. Len, who has the right perspective on life in general, is quick to point out the true value of an Edgar nomination: It serves as validation
from folks you very much admire that your book is good, that it does stand out.

And boy, do this year's Best First nominees - my competition, I guess, though I (naively?) don't view them that way - stand out. I read them all, starting with All Cry Chaos, and damn are they fine books. Edward Conlon's Red on Red, David Duffy's Last to Fold, and Lori Roy's Bent Road are utterly different from one another. And they're all ridiculously strong.

I'm honored that Purgatory Chasm is among them.

Here's the part where you roll your eyes while I insist I truly mean it: I feel like I've won by being nominated. This week's Edgar Awards in New York will be a blast, icing on somebody's cake, but it's the nomination that made my year.

Knock it off with the eyes. I mean it! Truly!

After all, I got a nice bump in sales. I've received congrats from writers I admire. I'll benefit from the Edgar Finalist Author tag for the duration of my career.

Which, when you think about it, means I got a parade after all.

Steve Ulfelder is an amateur race driver and co-owner of Flatout Motorsports Inc., a company that builds race cars. In addition to being nominated for MWA's Best First Novel Edgar, his debut, Purgatory Chasm, has been named Best First Mystery of 2011 by RT Book Reviews. His second novel, The Whole Lie, comes out May 8.

Our own Hank Phillippi Ryan will be moderating a panel of the Edgar best first nominees this Wednesday--including Steve!

Cookbook Nostalgia

2012-04-23T01:00:00.000-05:00

LUCY BURDETTE: The other day I realized how much my search for recipes for favorite or new foods has changed. These days I almost always find them online-either I run across recipes on the web that sound yummy, like those from my pals on Mystery Lovers Kitchen, or I search sites like Epicurious. Of course I often look up basic stuff in the JOY OF COOKING. And I know plenty of folks rely on TV cooking shows and celebrity recipes.

And that made me nostalgic for the old days, when my first go-to cooking bible was THE MOOSEWOOD COOKBOOK. My first copy is dog-eared and stained; I remember eating tons of food like mushroom strudel (1/2 pound butter plus cream cheese plus sour cream), Vericheesy Casserole (soybeans and brown rice), and Sour Cream-Orange Cake (soaked in Grand Marnier, which I served to my dissertation committee after they'd accepted my opus--the cake, not the booze). Molly Katzen came out with sequels and the new, improved lower-fat version, but I loved the first one the best.

Do you have an old favorite cookbook that's fallen out of favor? Where do you go when you need guidance these days?

HALLIE EPHRON: Here are my two favorite cookbooks: "The Joy of Cooking" and "Michael Fields Cooking School." Both belonged to my mother. "Joy" taught me the basics. But the most recipes that I still make regularly for very special company are from Michael Fields. His curried chicken (made with an apple) and his broiled butterflied boneless leg of lamb with egg lemon sauce are sublime.

These days I go to Epicurious for recipes. It's not just the recipes but the reader comments that give you a real sense of whether the recipes work (or don't).

RHYS BOWEN: Oh my goodness, I grew up with Mrs. Beaton--you know, recipe for oxtail soup is "first take your ox." Everything has at least half a pound of butter and is made in about ten stages. But it was what my mother used. I also had a binder of recipes my mother-in-law sent me. And these were mostly from the war--terribly economical. As I learned to cook I branched out to Julia Child (I even served souffles as a starter once. I was so ambitious in those days). But when I married John I had to learn to cook curries and Asian food as he'd spent so much time in Asia and then became sales manager of Air India.

More recently I buy cook books for the pretty pictures and for nostalgia. One day I'll go through the wad of magazine clippings in my kitchen drawer.

LUCY: I love that Rhys--first take your ox! And I have a drawer stuffed with clippings too...

JAN BROGAN - Lucy, I have the Moosewood Cookbook, too, although I have to confess I haven't used it as much as you did. I love the Joy of Cooking, the Silver Palette, The New York Time's Sixty Minute Gourmet, and I still use Giada de Laurentiis's Giada's Family dinners.

But you a right Roberta, they get a lot less use these days. I love calling up five different recipes for the same thing online and patching them together for my own version.

ROSEMARY HARRIS: I did a serious cookbook purge a few years ago. My husband used to work for Random House (think Clarkson Potter)and then Workman Publishing so I had tons of cookbooks - many of them beautiful but never used. I grew to love SOAR (Searchable Online Access to Recipes), but I think that morphed into something else, so I just google whatever I want and voila, it pops up. Usually it's on the Food Channel or All Recipes site
http://allrecipes.com/

Some of the books I had to keep, even if I only love one recipe from the book and by rights, should know it by heart by now. Joy of Cooking - eggnog recipe, Cooking from Quilt Country - Onion pie, the charmingly named Desperate Measures, 90 Unintimidating Recipes for the Domestically Inept - Patsy Cline's chili and gorognzola scallion cornbread

The one I still use most often, drum roll... Martha Stewart's Entertaining. I'm on my third copy, but have kept the first. Old, sticky, and has my handwritten notes "like use the dark, brown sugar."

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Lucy, I still have my Moosewood books, but I've kept them for the illustrations. I don't think I ever actually made a single recipe from either of them!

The books I loved, and still use, are Laurel's Kitchen, Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book (second or third copies of both, as they wore out), The Dairy Hollow House Soup and Bread Book by my friend and past JR guest Crescent Dragonwagon, and Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking and More Home Cooking. My mother was a big Adele Davis fan, so many of my basic cooking techniques came from that.

Current faves? Lots of Jamie Oliver. I adore Jamie, and have never made a recipe I didn't like. Some Gordon Ramsay, the simple stuff. And my very latest, Robin Ellis's Delicious Dishes for Diabetics. I'm not diabetic, but from the previous list you can see I'm a life-long whole foods nut, and love Mediterranean-style food, so I'm really enjoying this book. (And besides, Robin is adorable.

And, I use the online recipes, too, but am not giving up my cookbooks.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Yes, I have a lot of cookbooks, too. And I actually used to cook. :-) You know what was the absolutely pivotal transcendent constantly useful and still-relevant one? The Blue Strawberry Cookbook, by James Haller. I'm telling you--it--taught me how to cook. It doesn't have reciptes. It just has--chemistry. WHY things work. That for a roux, you need an oily thing, and an oniony thing, and a thickener, and a liquid. (It could be water, or wine, or chicken broth.) That for pesto, you need a oily thing, and a cheese, and a nut, and a green thing. (But it could be basil or arugula or spinach.) Because--when you know WHY it works, you can make dinner out of anything.
Oh, life-changing.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Still have, and use, THE JOY OF COOKING. I think my mother gave that and the mid-eighties BETTY CROCKER COOKBOOK to me when I got married. I went through a big foodie period with THE SILVER PALATE COOKBOOK and THE SILVER PALATE GOOD TIMES cookbook. Then I went to law school, and the kids started arriving, and for a few years, my idea of cooking consisted of Kraft Mac n Cheese and take out pizza. Like Ro, I also purged a lot of cookbooks a few years ago: I decided even though there were some great, great recipes, it didn't make sense for me to keep my shelf loaded up with books I didn't use.

My current every night fave is DESPERATION DINNERS by Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross. The best book for cooking fast, without relying on lots of processed foods. For fancier fare, I like RECIPES FROM A VERY SMALL ISLAND by Martha Greenlaw. The recipes rely heavily on Maine foods; it has the most amazing blueberry section. Also? Gingerbread to die for.

LUCY: Oh Julia, we must have a gingerbread bake-off. The recipe in the Moosewood Enchanted Broccoli Forest is killer too--lots of fresh ginger! Now your turn: cookbooks you love? where do your recipes come from?